This video depicts the emotions of being in the hospital of both caregivers and patients. Everyone has something going on in their head at all times. Many times we don’t take the time to understand how the person feels, their wants, or their needs. We put our own thoughts into the equation about what we think they need as health care professional.

I saw an email come by the other day of a woman crying as she saw a video of a person able to dance at the National Ataxia Foundation…she wrote she is afraid to leave the house because she knows people think she is drunk…but she has ataxia. One of the doctors I showed the same video to said, “She said she had ataxia..right? But you don’t know…” In other words he felt she was magnifying her symptoms or she had a psychological problem. Why would someone be at the National Ataxia Foundation Meeting???

When I mentioned this to the person in the video ( the person who could dance for the first time in 12 years) she said the first few years they sent me to a psychologist. Really!!! Why can’t we just try to help people instead of making judgements.

What I can’t understand is why we wouldn’t want to understand why she can dance rather than think she is having symptoms of ataxia for alternative purposes.

I will continue this discussion… Please try to understand and not make judgements:)

Exercise class

Exercise class

Causes of Balance and Mobility Impairment in Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is a progressive autoimmune disease typically diagnosed in young adults, affecting the central nervous system causing damage to the myelin surrounding the nerves and lesions in the brain. Although the disease progresses differently in each person often gait and mobility problems are encountered. Individuals experience many different symptoms such as loss of sensation, visual or vestibular function, spasticity, weakness, central processing and motor output dysfunction. Any or all of the symptoms may contribute to a loss of balance leading to difficulty in walking.
If you experience balance problems you should see a physical therapist who is knowledgeable in treating patients with multiple sclerosis. Many people in my MS exercise class partially funded by the MSFoundation find they are able to do so much more than they thought they were capable of. When people get the diagnosis that they have a neurodegenerative disease and experience a relapse many do not rehabilitate back to where they started. With proper guidance many of them are experiencing recovery of function that they thought was unattainable.